Nanophotonics (May 2024)

Capillary-assisted flat-field formation: a platform for advancing nanoparticle tracking analysis in an integrated on-chip optofluidic environment

  • Gui Fengji,
  • Foerster Ronny,
  • Wieduwilt Torsten,
  • Zeisberger Matthias,
  • Kim Jisoo,
  • Schmidt Markus A.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2024-0139
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 17
pp. 3135 – 3145

Abstract

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Here, we present the concept of flat-field capillary-assisted nanoparticle tracking analysis for the characterization of fast diffusing nano-objects. By combining diffusion confinement and spatially invariant illumination, i.e., flat-fields, within a fiber-interfaced on-chip environment, ultra-long trajectories of fast diffusing objects within large microchannels have been measured via diffraction-limited imaging. Our study discusses the design procedure, explains potential limitations, and experimentally confirms flat-field formation by tracking gold nanospheres. The presented concept enables generating flat-fields in a novel on-chip optofluidic platform for the characterization of individual nano-objects for fundamental light/matter investigations or applications in bioanalytics and nanoscale material science.

Keywords